How would the responses of Jacobean and a modern audience differ towards the characteristics of Prospero?

Using Act 1 Scene 2

In my essay I will be discussing two main themes of the play, authority, and colonization and how would Jacobean and modern audiences respond to the character of Prospero. I will be discussing Prospero’s attitude, use of magic and treatment of the other characters in the play. I’m going to discuss what sort of authority Prospero had before he came to the island, and what was the reason, which made him lose his power.

At the beginning of this scene Prospero gives a long exposition detailing how he and Miranda came to the island. In the lines 53-54 Prospero states: “They father was the Duke of Milan and a prince of power.” Being a Duke of Milan means having a lot of power and authority. From my point of view, Jacobean audience would appreciate it. Then, while Prospero is telling the story, he mentions his brother Antonio. For example, in the lines68-70 Prospero says that he loved and trusted to his brother: “He whom next thyself of all the world I loved, and to him put the manage of my state”. From these lines we can also see that Prospero wasn’t a good ruler. He couldn’t sort the things out by himself and decided that it was better to give that job to his brother. After a while, in the lines 92-95, Prospero blames his brother Antonio, saying that he took over Prospero’s power: “in my false brother awaked an evil nature.” I think that in this case Jacobean audience wouldn’t respond to Prospero very positively, because they would consider it to be his fault and that it was up to him to decide whether he should give that job to his brother or not. “If you’re not a good ruler don’t blame the others”- that’s what I think a modern audience would think. I think that Prospero simply provoked his brother to do that. I also think, that Jacobean audience could also find that Prospero was a very weak person from a moral point of view, because sometimes he simply couldn’t control himself. In the lines 73-74 we can find the reason why Prospero couldn’t control the state: “…the liberal arts without a parallel; those being all my study.” Jacobean audience wouldn’t think that it was the right thing to do to leave the management of the Milan to his brother and learn ‘secret’ liberal arts. I think that this could be one of the examples, when Jacobean audience would not respond towards Prospero. Also, while he is talking to his daughter, Miranda, he always asks if she listens to him or not: “Dost thou hear?” or “Dost thou attend me?” in the line 105. Although Prospero wasn’t a king any more, he was a Miranda’s father and a very powerful man in general. Therefore, some of the Jacobean audience would consider that Miranda disrespected her father by not listening to him. So, so far we know that one of the reasons why Prospero lost his father was a lack of self-control. I think that from this modern audience can see that Prospero as any other normal person made mistakes. Everyone does mistakes, and as you become older these mistakes cost more and more. In the situation with Prospero it cost him a crown, a status of king, and could cost him even more, his life and life of his daughter. From the /3ayon’t know anything which happened since Prospero and Miranda came to the island. The only thing we know is that after he came, he started using his magic and colonizing all living creatures and souls on the island. In the line 189 a soul called Ariel appears. He calls Prospero his great master: “All hail, great master, grave sir”. It shows a lot of respect to Prospero, but how did he do that? In the line 206 Prospero calls Ariel as his brave spirit: “My brave spirit!” From here the audience start to realize what’s going on. From the lines 250-259, the audiences find out that Prospero gave a freedom to the spirit Ariel. In the lines 256-257 Prospero remembers Ariel about what he has done to him: “Thou liest, malignant thing hast thou forgot the foul witch Sycorax.” Prospero saved Ariel’s life first and then, made a use of him. He did the same with another habitant of the island, Caliban as well. I think that Jacobean audience would react at it absolutely normally. At their time, all the kings had slaves and it was normal. But if we ask the modern audience today, about how they would respond to Prospero, I think, that most of the audiences wouldn’t consider Prospero to be a good person, because nowadays, from our point of view making a use of other people by having an advantage among them is not a right thing to do. Times have changed. Today, we have human rights, and treating a person as a slave is unlawful. However, at the time when The Tempest was written, there were no laws. Therefore, we need to realize that there’s a big difference in time, where at the Jacobean time it was acceptable to have a power among the others and treat people as Prospero did. The next theme I’m going to look at is colonization. In the lines 285-286 Prospero states: “…that Caliban whom now I keep in service.” From these lines we see how Prospero starts colonizing people. Before Prospero came, Caliban was the only habitant on his mother’s island. In the lines 332-333 the audiences see that Caliban hates Prospero for that he stole his island: “This island’s mine by Sycorax, my mother, which thou tak’st from me.” Also, in the lines 326-327 it is evident that Prospero’s treatment of Caliban was very harsh: “For this, be sure tonight thou shalt have cramps, side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up.” Although, from modern audience’s view it would be unfair to treat Caliban like that, for Jacobean audience it would normal and understandable, especially if they looked at the lines 345-348, where Prospero mentions that Caliban tried to rape his daughter, Miranda: “In my own cell, till thou didst seek to violate the honour of my child.” Jacobean audience would find it absolutely unacceptable, because at their time the person who raped or tried to rape the king’s daughter would be publicly executed. Also, in the end of the Act 1, Prospero makes Ferdinand, the son of king, and Miranda to fall in love, but, in order to make their love stronger, he uses his power among Ferdinand. In the lines 487-488 the audience can see how Ferdinand is being charmed by Prospero: “…nor this man’s threats, to whom I am subdued…” Overall, the Jacobean audience sees that although Prospero was a bad ruler before, he tries to return his power back due to the use of his magic. Even though Prospero does everything for his own benefit and the benefit of his daughter, Jacobean audience would not consider Prospero to be a bad person, whereas modern audience would still think, that it was unfair to make his own life better by charming other people, who weren’t resistant to his magic.

I think that the responses of Jacobean and modern audience differ mainly, because of different historical time and because our social life has really changed through out the centuries. I think that I’m the part of the modern society. From the play I found out, that Prospero did use magic to use people for his own benefit, but actually he didn’t do anything particularly bad to the people. He just wanted to correct those mistakes which he made before He showed that he was a good person in general and forgave everyone and gave everyone a freedom. I’m a representative of the modern world and, therefore, my response and the response of the modern society to this novel is be positive.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29